YouTube as a Medium for Conversation

Ever since I watched SNL’s digital short, “Lazy Sunday” on YouTube, I recognized the fun potential of this online video thing. In time, YouTube would deliver other priceless moments. Try a Google search for “boom goes the dynamite” or “chocolate rain” to see what I’m talking about. I say, “priceless”, with tongue firmly planted in cheek. YouTube moments are usually viewed within a certain frame of satire and in the spirit of lampooning the “everyone is a star” meme that this great Internet enables.

So, it was with a high level of interest that I decided to participate in an experiment to use YouTube to promote discourse and civic debate. The idea comes from some local independent filmmakers and several academics from Montana State University who ask a series of questions about the emerging video platform by creating a YouTube video. Among the questions asked: How are people thinking about the effects of YouTube on society? What is unique about this new age of video sharing? Is it just a game that kids play to create alter-egos to insult others? Are hate speech and acts of violence a necessary consequence of allowing free video sharing? Does YouTube have far wider implications for social justice, religion and disenfranchised groups?

But enough with my writing… It’s all very meta, so have a watch and leave a comment if you have something to say.